21st of Red Wolf Moon, Imperial Year 1184

Garreg Mach Monastery, Fodlan

It's been one year since the fall of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus and the deaths of Seiros and Dimitri. Edelgard von Hresvelg, Empress of Adrestia, steps into the monastery, currently under reconstruction by companies from the Leicester Alliance. Her hair is bleach white, a side effect of cruel experiments by a shadowy cabal destroyed in this very place one year prior. Her armor gleams silver as a crimson cape trails behind her. Obscured by the cape is a large axe seemingly made of bone, and a bronze shield marked with the crest of the fallen church, taken from the defeated archbishop Seiros, and by her side are two of her most trusted allies. On the left was a woman clad in black silk with bright green hair. She wielded a sword seemingly also made of bone on her hip as she walked with a very neutral expression. On her right was a black and red cloaked man with purple hair and twin blades gleaming silver on his hips. They were Shez and Byleth, Edelgard's best friends and closest advisors.

Behind them strode four people, dressed in noble attire but bound by ropes and surrounded by soldiers of Adrestia. Felix, Ingrid, Sylvain and Annette. Three years ago, they had been part of the Blue Lions class at this very school, now they were prisoners of war, about to be traded to another enemy for protection. Annette and Sylvain begrudged Edelgard for her acts of war and turning on the kingdom, but the other two realized the truth of matters. Felix, a mighty, blue-haired noble who served the fallen Dimitri directly. And Ingrid, a golden-haired beauty who had been Felix and Dimitri's friend since childhood. They had seen what happened to Seiros, more commonly known as Rhea, and indeed, what happened to Dimitri himself when both were backed against the wall. They had turned to literal monsters and butchered countless hoards of their countrymen in a desperate attempt to slaughter Edelgard.

This act should've earned them execution, especially with them fighting on Dimitri's side until that last moment, but Shez and Byleth had both spoken for them, as had those in the Blue Lions class who had defected, only one of whom was here now, the innocent and light-blue haired Ashe Ubert. As the procession entered the chapel proper, they saw their reported patron, Claude von Riegan, leader of the Leicester Alliance.

One year ago, Claude and Edelgard entered an alliance thanks to the efforts of Byleth and together, they split Fodlan between them. Claude had suffered due to his mixed blood heritage and aimed to end discrimination, and likewise, Edelgard's suffering at the hands of black magic experimentation saw her aiming to dismantle the nobility system, a system propped up by the Church of Seiros, a false organization who preached a dead goddess and propped up a system formed by their own suffering.

In Fodlan, bloodline crests were power, and one could only obtain bloodline crests by consuming the blood of a dragon. The church masqueraded as humans, but they were, in truth, Nabateans, dragonkin themselves that manipulated society, history and personal lives to wage a proxy war against ancient and defeated enemies. Seiros had led this effort, but her time in human form took a toll on her mind, and she suffered the cruel fate of many a dragon, degeneration, which led to her experimenting on poor Byleth's mother, and led to Byleth being the closest thing to the reincarnation of the dead dragon goddess the world would ever see.

As for Shez, he was of Agarthan blood, used by an organization that had waged war with Seiros and the goddess for centuries known as Those who Slither in the Dark. He was once the vessel for a corrective force the Agarthan descendants would use to purge the church known as Arval. Both Seiros and Arval had been slain, and Dimitri, consumed by bitter insanity due to his family being slain when young, joined them not long after. No one mourned his loss more than Edelgard herself however. She had once been close with the Boar Prince, and her devotion to her ideals had driven a wedge between them and cost her friend his mind and his life. She replayed the events over and over again in her mind, but the result was the same. She could at least count on Shez and Byleth to see reason and advise her from taking her grief out on her former classmates.

Claude was dressed in fine golden cloth, a bow strung on his back made of the same bone-like material as Byleth's sword and Edelgard's axe. These were Heroes' Relics, made from the bones of slain Nabateans, with Byleth's sword being the undeniably strongest blade of the three weapons. Claude's black hair draped low in a braid, and he looked at the group with a certain cunning. Frankly, he had been a tactical genius that Edelgard would not have succeeded without.

Claude spoke first as he stepped up to a granite table set up for the meeting, pulling aside a wooden chair to sit, "Wow… It's been a year already, huh? I can hardly believe how time flies."

Edelgard sat at the opposite end and pulled out a map of Fodlan, "Indeed, but as much as I'd love to reminisce at the progress made, let us deal with business first."

Claude nods in understanding, "As promised, Faerghus is yours, and Leicester will not intervene in any way with any uprising in that territory. We will not aid or hinder revolts that pop up under Adrestian watch. You also get the nations of Duscur and Brigid as vassal states."

Edelgard nods, drawing the borders on the map, "In return, Leicester gets Almyra with the same deal as Faerghus. No intervention under any circumstances, in addition, Adrestia will fund the reconstruction of both Fodlan's Locket and Garreg Mach Monastery for Alliance use, and turn over Faerghus prisoners of war to avoid persecution with the knowledge that they are exiled from Empire territory. Their wealth, servants, families and holy weapons will also be turned over to allow them to regain status, but as Alliance nobles."

Claude turns to the four prisoners in question, with Felix and Ingrid wide-eyed at the apparent blessing falling directly into their laps. Sylvain and Annette seemed more than a little bitter, "Well, they may have wealth, status and weapons, but they'll have to work hard to get any form of land. I think they can pull it off however."

Edelgard smirks a bit. She knew Claude already had a plan for them long-term, especially the more cooperative ones, "You know, this treaty seems to favor you a fair bit, Claude. You get territory and concessions for the war."

Claude chuckled, "Are you kidding? I'm letting you keep two of the most dangerous weapons in all of Fodlan under your control. With the Ashen Demon and Crimson Blade at your disposal, I need some form of insurance."

Shez and Byleth looked at each other and shared a chuckle. Byleth especially appreciated Claude's humor at a time like this and spoke up, "You sure you wouldn't like one of us as a check against the other, Claude?"

Claude turned, "Nah, it's all good, you two are a check for Edelgard all on your own, regardless of what flag you fly. I trust you guys to keep the bonds of friendship strong…" Claude goes a bit quiet before continuing, "I just wish all of us could've been here…"

Edelgard, Byleth, Shez and Claude all look to a seat that remained vacant as thoughts drifted again to Dimitri.

Felix stops Sylvain from saying something horribly hurtful to the group that had destroyed Faerghus, instead turning to the group personally, "The Boar Prince may have lost himself, but Dimitri would've insisted you all use your influence to better Fodlan, not mourn paths not taken."

Sylvain muttered the word, "Traitor" under his breath, but otherwise realized he would not get nearly as good a deal if he spoke further. Anette couldn't even stand to look at the group.

Claude sighed, "Regardless, that's the deal. We signed it here a year ago, and now all that's left is to put it into effect. While I have you here though… I've come across information I'd like to speak to you about."

Shez raises an eyebrow, "Go on…"

Claude pulls out an even larger map and places it on the table, and everyone's eyes go wide.

Edelgard speaks, "This is… This is a map of the entire world. For so long I've been searching for a map like this… And you've drawn all over it!" She says, slightly enraged.

Claude looks away, "Hey, I needed to take notes! Besides, this is important… I've managed to acquire this map from Yuri, who used connections in Almyra to get it. It's got all the continents, Elibe, Fodlan, Ylisse, Valm, Magvel and even Lost Tellius's location. Not that there's much to be done about that."

Byleth nodded, she had heard the stories from her father after all. Tellius was an ancient continent that had become uninhabitable after drifting too far North, and had once been home to a goddess and the Radiant Hero of legend.

Shez noticed something else, "What's that though? In the Sea of Ghosts?" The sea of ghosts being a massive ocean that separated Ylisse, Valm, Tellius and Elibe from Fodlan and Magvel. Famously deadly to cross, most chose to go across the smaller more mellow Dragon Sea to reach their neighbors. Though the Sea of Ghosts had something colored in dark ink, a vague landmass.

Claude explained, "Recall how, before the final battle in Faerghus, there was that massive wave of Dark Magic that messed with all other magic for a few months? Well, reports say that a pillar of light was spotted over the Sea of Ghosts around the same time. Some of my sages believe they've glimpsed an entire new continent fished out of the ocean, and link it to a potential catastrophe in our Southern neighbors of Magvel."

Byleth blinked in shock, "A new continent? And Magvel is somehow responsible?"

Claude shrugs, "That's what I could gather. Of course, because of the reconstruction and the… Decades of misinformation our dear leader Seiros gave us, communication with Magvelian nations is spotty at best, and nonexistent at worst."

Shez sighs and leans back, "Which means we have zero idea what's going on until we either rebuild and reach out to one of those nations, or investigate a landmass in the center of the deadliest body of water in the world."

Ashe, for the first time, speaks up, "H-hold on, if there's a new landmass… Wouldn't that displace an insane amount of water? I mean, the last time something like this happened was the ancient great flood, which had a literal foreign goddess involved. A-are we about to be hit with a tsunami bigger than anything seen before in world history?"

Everyone in the room, including Annette and Sylvain, goes pale at the thought.

Claude shudders, "We… Should probably get our sages on that… Immediately."

Edelgard nods, "Absolutely…"

23rd of Red Wolf Moon

Adrestian Empire, the former capital of Faerghus

Dedue sat on a broken throne. In his hands was a blade given to him just minutes ago by Saint Cichol of the Church and Thales of the shadowy cabal, Those who Slither in the Dark. The former enemies had turned to one another in desperate times, though grudges remained, Adrestia had become too powerful. Epimendies and Seiros were dead, and Faerghus had been effectively annexed.

The blade was ancient, once wielded by champions who predated even the Ten Elite who betrayed the Nabateans. Crusaders, Cichol had called them, and they possessed the holy blood of dragons as well. Dedue was a descendant of one of them, and so had the right to this blade, Mysteltainn, a blade that was recently reforged with unknown power. Even now, the blade called out to the Duscur native… Called out for him to exact revenge on those who had slain his lord and enslaved his people.

Even now, other weapons of the Crusaders were being passed out to allies from the Church, from Almyra, from Faerghus and from the ancient Agarthans. Revolution was coming, Cyril began wielding the Gae Bolg like a pro. Kronya flipped her knife in her palms as she fantasized about slitting the throat of the heir of house Ochs who had so humiliated her. Rodrigue, Cornelia, Cethleanne, Gwendal, Lonato, Matthias and his son Miklan, Gustave, Rodrigue and even Catherine. All had cheated death in the previous war, and now all had a common enemy, Adrestia and Leicester.

Dedue smiled as he looked into the red metal of the reforged Mysteltainn as he made a promise, drawing blood as he gripped the blade tightly, he would personally kill Edelgard and Claude with his own hands, with this very blade. All in the name of his lord, the Boar Prince.

Glorious holy revolution was near… Glorious, bloody, revolution…

He could hardly wait…

To Be Continued…